Kakai developing a Linux-based e-book reader? Wouldn't you like to know!

Kakai developing a Linux-based e-book reader? Wouldn't you like to know!

It seems that Osman Rashid, the guy behind Chegg (an online textbook rental service, sort of like a boring Netflix) has decided that he's going to follow the likes of Kindle and iPad into the untested (well, somewhat tested -- and somewhat reviled) e-textbook space. Details are scant -- and it's this fact, really, that's captured the imagination of tech wonks on a slow news day like today. According to Kara Swisher of All Things Digital, Rashid's start-up, Kakai, is "in the deepest of stealth modes, despite a panoply of high-profile players involved." That's right -- despite having almost fifty employees and almost $10 million in venture capital, no one is really sure what these guys are trying to do! No one, that is, except Swisher, who's apparently received reports of a demo video that targets potential investors, describing a Linux-based, dual-display, Courier-like device aimed at the educational market. Which sounds great, as far as that goes -- but we're waiting for some specs, or blurrycam pics, or for someone to leave one at a bar somewhere before we get too excited.